A number of dispensers exist for dispensing paper toweling and the like. Some of these dispensers are of the folded type, wherein towels are pulled from the bottom of a stack through an elongated longitudinal slot in the dispenser. Other dispensers are of the "center-pull" type, wherein toweling or other sheet material may be pulled from the center of a coreless roll through a nozzle, a pair of rollers, or other restrictor element forming a restricted passageway. U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,137 to Schutz et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,634 to Morand, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, disclose a center-pull roll product dispenser with nozzle inserts, and a paper towel dispenser for dispensing towelling from the inside diameter of a roll, respectively.
Several problems exist with the folded towel dispensers in regards to waste and sanitation. For example, many such dispensers have wide dispensing orifices that allow the user to pull out more paper towels than needed, thus leading to considerable waste, as well as unnecessary cost to the towel provider. In addition, there is more cleanup involved since many of the wasted paper towels are not properly discarded. Further, because a user may be able to reach and touch undispensed towels, which may be subsequently used by another, potential problems concerning cleanliness and hygiene exist.
Also, efficiency problems exist with the folded dispensers when compared to center-pull dispensers. First, with center-pull dispensers there is generally a capacity for more sheets to be placed into the dispenser. Also, with center-pull dispensers, refill becomes more efficient, both because of the increase in the number of sheets allowed per dispenser, as well as the ease of replacement of the rolls compared to stacks of individual sheets.
Often a towel provider will have installed folded towel dispensers and then come to realize some or all of these problems. However, once a towel provider has purchased folded towel dispensers and placed them into use, it is a costly process to install an entire new set of center-pull dispensers to alleviate the above-mentioned concerns.
Accordingly, a need exists for an adapter that allows center-pull towel dispensing heads to be used with existing folded towel dispensers, such that the entire existing towel dispenser does not have to be replaced.